recently i'm... (9)

Arriving Home: from weekend Girls Retreat with our youth group girls.

Excited About: a 3-day work week (I guess 4, counting conferences) and MY FAMILY COMING TO VISIT!

Not Looking Forward To: conferences.

Procrastinating: unpacking & laundry from retreat.

Thinking: I shouldn't have eaten so much junk this weekend.

Literally JUST Watched: Zooey slyly pull a yellow Laffy Taffy out of our nearly empty candy basket on the ottoman and slink into the other room, hoping I didn't see her...

Reading: Bought an anthology in NYC - The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010. Comprised of some hilarious headlines, letters-to-the-editor, whimsical essays, etc. Great plane reading.

Cooking: Made what have been dubbed my "famous cupcakes" at girls retreat - a.k.a. Cookie Dough Cupcakes, ala Annie's Eats. We had our friends Clay & Laura (and their cute kids!) over for dinner last week and I made oven-fried chicken, which has become a quick n' easy favorite of mine.

Watching: Modern Family is easily the best show on TV these days. Hysterical.

Listening To: Currently obsessed with Phil Wickham. He's sort of like what I imagine Rufus Wainwright/David Bowie would sound like if they did praise & worship. Can I say that?

Missing: Doug - he'll get home from the Boys Retreat later this evening...

Laughing At:

Goldfish?

a practice in thanksgiving

I've realized that I complain a lot. And honestly, I don't really have anything to complain about. So, in the spirit of the approaching holiday - and because I think we could all use a lot more thankfulness in our lives - I'm going to try to give some thanks each day.

Today I'm thankful for...

On a large scale:
God's faithfulness and good plan.
Exodus 15:13 says, "You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy dwelling." I'm a Type A - - I like having a plan, executing said plan, being in charge, etc. So sometimes I feel like God's not up to speed with what I've got in store for my life. The good news? He knows WAY better than I do. He's written my story & is directing each step. (How's that for a mixed metaphor?!)

On a small, trivial scale:
Zooey's ears.
I know, weird. But seriously? They're so soft & cute. They're not quite as Dumbo-esque as they used to be, but they still are so fun to just pet. And now I sound like Lenny from Of Mice and Men... don't worry, I'm not keeping any mice in my pockets. Wow, did I just lose the Sparknotes section of my audience??

more cupcakes

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES.

Terrible photo, ala Doug's phone...

For those of you that love peanut butter, these are the cupcakes for you. Whenever I think of people who love peanut butter, I think of Lyndsay... Is that even accurate? Lynz, where did I get this idea that you're obsessed with peanut butter?

Anyway, Annies-Eats, of course, coming through again with the stellar cupcake recipe.

returning from the polls

Our voting location is literally across the street from our sub. Doug & I ate dinner and popped over there for about 6 minutes tops. We casted our votes & made our voices heard! Listen well, America! I know, I know - we're so politically aware and civically sensitive.

Anyway, we put Zooey in the laundry room while we were gone. When we got back, she greeted us like we'd been gone for weeks - naturally, by freaking out. Doug & I love to make voices for Zooey when she's in her crazy moods, which obviously intesifies the hilarity. Doug's quip, as Zooey was trying to jump all over us: "Where have you guys been?! You smell like democracy!"

nablopomo?

Thanks to my friend Liz, I know that November is National Blog Posting Month! So I'm going to try to post every. day.

I'm NOT promising that these will be blogs anything significant or noteworthy... just keeping with the tone of the rest of my blog!

So... day one...

This afternoon our doorbell rang. I opened the door (amidst a cacophony of barking from one Zooey Dumbhead Parton) to see two small children standing there, looking somewhat sheepish. I smiled and said, "Hi guys!" The little boy said, "Um, we were playing frisbee, and it went over your fence. Can you get it for us?"

We're officially a part of the neighborhood!